This was a battle with vastly uneven forces, and the odds of victory were slim; at least none of us three felt any certainty.
No wonder Ah Zhan had sounded so confident when he announced this. If we took them down, we’d feed them to the crocodiles. It seemed, however, they intended to kill us.
As they spoke, the three men advanced, forming a crescent to corner us against the wall.
I roared, "Let’s fight!"
The three of us charged at them simultaneously, not using our fists, but our heads, headbutting them directly.
We three exerted our utmost strength, colliding with the three men almost at the same instant.
I felt as if I had hit a steel plate, my head throbbing with pain, yet looking at the opponents, they hadn't moved an inch, their postures unchanged.
Suddenly, the hulking man clapped his hands together, fingers digging into my ribs, and lifted me entirely off the ground.
My feet left the floor. He hoisted me above his head, then hurled me forward with great force. I flew two or three meters before crashing to the ground, and instantly the Daoist brothers were thrown over as well.
They remained standing in place, arms crossed, watching us with cold sneers.
They had the air of a cat playing with a mouse.
They didn't attack, waiting for us to get up before we made a move.
This was more humiliating than being thrown. Their demeanor suggested they didn't even consider fighting us, believing they could toy with us to death while remaining stationary.
This wouldn't do. We had no real chance of winning against them in a one-on-one confrontation; we needed to change our strategy.
I told the other two, "Forget the others, let’s focus only on the one on the right."
I whispered, "Up!" and the three of us quickly converged on the man to our right. They attacked from the left and right while I pulled out my dagger and plunged it into his abdomen.
With a *thwack*, the dagger sank into his belly. I twisted it, and the man, like a black iron tower, let out a pained groan, clutched his stomach, bent over, and stumbled back several steps before collapsing onto the ground in agony.
The other two finally reacted and lunged at us with ferocity.
*Bang!* A fist landed on my chest, and I felt as if I'd been hit by a car. I flew backward, slamming hard against the wall, which seemed to shudder from the impact.
The other two weren't faring any better; they were both hit, and we all ended up on the ground again.
Now, they had lost their observational detachment. Seeing us down, they strode towards us.
Ignoring the pain all over my body, I shouted "Up!" and the other two scrambled to their feet.
The moment we stood, the two men were upon us, swinging their hammer-like fists, raining blows upon us from all directions.
The three of us covered our heads, letting them vent their fury on us.
We were like punching bags, subjected to a brutal beating.
I hugged my head, then gathered all my strength and lifted my leg, driving my knee directly into the big man's groin. His strength was entirely in his upper body; he hadn't expected me, completely defenseless, to deliver such a fatal blow.
As I mentioned earlier, this was a low-down dirty trick, a move I wouldn't resort to unless absolutely necessary.
If I didn't use it now, all three of us would be dead within a minute.
The big man, struck by my blow, immediately eased his grip and stepped away from me, retreating a few paces.
I pulled a chain from my pocket and lashed out, striking his forehead. Blood immediately streamed down his face.
He wiped the blood from his face and roared, charging at me with a ferocity that suggested he intended to devour me.
Before he could reach me, I swung the chain again, hitting him on the head once more.
Though they were taller than us, our punches posed no threat to them. The chain, over a meter long, perfectly compensated for our lack of height.
This blow was even harder than the last, causing blood to gush. No matter how much he wiped, the blood streamed into his eyes, obscuring his vision completely, making it impossible for him to see where I was.
With me having drawn away one opponent, the Daoist brothers had also broken free from their attacker's grasp and created distance. One of them pulled out a three-section staff and swung it at the back of his head.
A sharp crack echoed, followed by a heavy thud as the man collapsed straight to the ground.
The Daoist brothers didn't stop; one kicked him in the stomach. The man's head snapped up, and he fell heavily again.
The one I had stabbed in the stomach was still sitting on the ground, clutching his abdomen and moaning.
Now only the big man I had attacked remained. With a bloody head, he blindly searched for us.
I circled behind him, then jumped and kicked at the back of his knee.
With a *thump*, he collapsed onto his knees. The Daoist brothers rushed him, tackling him down. Each grabbed an arm, twisted them 180 degrees on the ground, and dislocated his shoulders.
Now, he couldn't even get up.
We exchanged glances, then looked at the door. There was no sound from the door. I walked to the door, chain in hand, and peered through the keyhole. Outside, apart from two sentries standing guard, there was no one else in sight.
Perhaps Brother Hui was confident we would become the prey of those three, waiting in his room for the outcome, completely disbelieving we would fight back.
I walked over, and with the Daoist brothers, we split up and took the belts from the three men. We tied them up, dragged them back into the room, found some rags, and stuffed their mouths.
We had to get out now and find a place to hide.
If they discovered we weren't dead soon, the men in black would arrive, and we would be in grave danger.
I went to the door and, feigning the voice of the big man, said, "It's all dealt with, open the door."
The Daoist brothers hid nearby. The sentry glanced through the window, pulled a key from his pocket, and opened the door.
I gestured to them with my hands behind my back. As soon as the door opened a crack, I pushed it with all my might. The sentry who opened the door was thrown backward by the door itself, landing flat on his back.
The other one ran over in panic. The Daoist brothers struck him on the head from both sides. The sentry made no sound; his legs gave out, and he fell.
We went over and delivered heavy blows to their heads, dragged them back into the room, bound them with their own belts as before, gagged them, and then locked the door from the outside. Having dealt with the sentries, we didn't dare delay. We ran all the way to the small hill beside the house.
Before they could react, we needed to plan our next move.
The immediate priority was to notify our seniors and join forces to deal with Brother Hui and the men in black.
We were all wearing the black uniforms. Running out like this wouldn't work.
We needed to find a way to get ordinary clothes. We'd been too focused on escaping earlier; we should have taken the sentries' clothes then.
"I'll go back," said Xiao Zhang, one of the Daoist brothers.
I looked at him and asked, "Do you feel up to it?"
We had all been injured, and I was worried he hadn't recovered his strength and wouldn't be able to handle a difficult situation.
"No problem. Give me the keys, and I'll strip their clothes off."
"Then be careful. Don't force anything; if it doesn't work, we'll think of another plan."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful."